A few words about Haiti

[Bandit]

A short history of the current crisis in Haiti and why we should be behind Aristide. Haiti has been ruled for over a hundred years by eight to ten ruling families. In 1988 they had an election for President and Aristide, who by the way is extremely well educated and speaks six languages fluently, was elected by a large majority. He was elected to a five year term. After three years the ruling families got together and performed a coup and threw Aristide out. He came to America (Washington DC) and rented a small apartment while his country suffered greatly. People were fleeing left and right. Bush 1 would do nothing about it because he sided with the wealthy families, who are basically thugs. Clinton was elected and Aristide convinced him to liberate Haiti. Clinton told the Police Captain who had taken over by brute force that if he didn't surrender and leave we would attack and in fact the 82nd Airborne was actually in the air headed to wards engagement. The deal with Aristide was he could finish out his term but must step down and allow a new person to be elected. Aristide did just that. After two years when his term was up he stepped down and another was elected President for a five year term. Things went along fairly well and when his five years were up the people wanted Aristide back as he is extremely popular. Aristide was elected by over 70% of the vote but then along comes Bush*. guess what the same thugs that were running rampant during Bush 1 now were getting encouragement from our current Administration. The same Police Captain that Clinton forced out is now forming an army to try and overthrow Aristide again. Remember he is a Democratically elected leader and hasn't built huge palaces or large armies in fact he did away with the army. He has no WMD and the US has nothing to point to as him being a bad leader. The entire Black Caucus is 100% for the US coming to Aristide's aid. Bush* is on the side of the thugs and gangsters and now the boat people are showing up thru-out the Caribbean and the US. We need to demand from our government that we come to the aid of Aristide. This is a great injustice. It is all because Aristide is black while the ruling families are white and have the majority of the money in Haiti. And if Aristide were to run for office again he would be re-elected overwhelmingly. The people love him. That is why they have to do this by Coup.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Of course Bush won't help

That'd be admitting Clinton was right and that can't happen in any way, shape, or form.

[mmm]

2. great information - thank you

[Chicago Democrat]

3. So well said! Let's brainstorm an action plan.

What can we do?

Who should we write to? I want to write to someone but we should try and coodinate a letter writing campaign.

Kofi Annon
France (wants Aristide to resign)
Bush (Like talking to a wall)

[Chicago Democrat]

4. Im gonna post on Kerry's site

http://www.johnkerry.com

What is Kerry's position I wonder?

[sangha]

6. Kerry has criticized Bush*'s policy on Haiti

Kerry says something to the effect that Bush*'s policies (specifically cutting off aid to the Aristide govt) have made the unrest more likely. I don't know if he has called for armed intervention in Haiti

[sangha]

7. More on Kerry and Haiti

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0226c.html

Statement from John Kerry Calling for Senator Bob Graham to be Named Special Envoy to Haiti


February 26, 2004

For Immediate Release


“Today I call on President Bush to appoint Senator Bob Graham as a Special Envoy to attempt to resolve the crisis in Haiti. Senator Graham has long been a leader in Florida and in the US Senate on foreign affairs. He knows the situation in Haiti extremely well, and knows the cost that widespread violence will cause not only in Haiti, but on our shores.

“The Bush Administration had only one hope for resolving the crisis in Haiti – an 11th hour proposal that has now been rejected by the opposition leaders. We must take further action now to support the rule of law in Haiti and prevent a widespread humanitarian crisis.
“Appointing Senator Graham as Special Envoy would demonstrate that our commitment to bringing peace, stability and respect for the rule of law to Haiti is genuine. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Colin Powell, former President Jimmy Carter and Senator Sam Nunn to Haiti to a high level delegation to restore democracy to Haiti. Recent events in Haiti have shown that it is past time for this Administration to take similar measures.

“Any Special Envoy will have their work cut out for them. The envoy needs to get the parties to agree on ending the political violence, as well as to address long-standing issues such as the release of political prisoners, and the need to rein in the paramilitaries in order to create the context where meaningful political dialogue can occur.

“I hope the President will take this opportunity to make use of Senator Graham’s extraordinary experience and skills to help us combat the downward spiral of civic violence in Haiti to avoid further loss of human life and further collapse of the Haitian political system.”

[Bandit]

5. Maxine Waters is a good place to start

:thumbsup:

[Hammie]

8. Haiti is a sovereign country

We should just butt out and let them determine their own future. Just like we should have done in Iraq.

[Bandit]

10. So the US should Never come to the aid of a Sovereign Nation?

I think that attitude is quite Republican.

[Tinoire]

12. Trouble is the US has been messing with Haiti from the start

It all started when a bunch of "niggers speaking French" whooped Napolean's seasoned veterans & won their independence and became the world's first Black Republic & the hemisphere's second republic. The US didn't want any dangerous ideas such as freedom catching on in the neighbouring Southern plantation states and deliberately, systematically set out to alienate and destroy the country. It didn't help that Haiti in its heyday was financing & arming dangerous Leftists like Simon Bolivar.

The US never let up since 1804. 1804 would have been a good time to butt out and let them determine their own future.

Free labor in Haiti! No way the corporate globalizers are letting go of that one.



Less than a decade after its independence, Haiti, the second republic in the Americas and the first black independent nation in the world, began to help its neighbors in South America to gain liberty as well. During Alexandre Petion presidency, Simon Bolivar "the Liberator" came to Haiti to seek help for his struggle to liberate his country Venezuela from Spain. Petion gave Bolivar: money, weapons, ammunitions and even Haitian volunteer soldiers to help him fight for freedom. The only thing Petion asked in return was abolition of slavery in all the territories that he may later help liberate. Simon Bolivar with the help of Haiti proclaimed Venezuala independence in 1812 and truly liberated: Colombia in 1819, Venezuela in 1821, Ecuador in 1822, Bolivia and Peru. It is even said that Bolivar had promised to Petion that as a gesture of gratitude that he will include part of the red and blue of the Haitian flag in the flag of the countries that he will gain independence for with Haitian help. Thus the reason for the red and blue in the flags of: Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador. History even reports that both the Venezuelan and the Colombian flags were made in the port of Jacmel, Haiti. However, Haiti the father of the Pan-American movement was later bad mouthed by his jealous neighbors, who spread the words that: Haitian leaders had vision and ambition to create a black empire in South America, hence Haiti became a de facto outcast, and its people would experience a great deal of injustice and set back as a bitter reward for its good deed for freedom and liberty.

http://www.heritagekonpa.com/archives/Haitian%20History.htm

===

More on the "niggers speaking French" deal here: http://www.blackcommentator.com/74/74_reprint_french.html

It would be nice if we would butt out of all these places. But REALLY butt out.

Peace

[Bandit]

13. Thank you

It is amazing what one can learn just for the asking.

[Tinoire]

16. Thank you Bandit for starting this post

Haiti has such a rich history.

It used to be known as the "Pearl of the West Indies" and if Napolean fought so hard to keep it, it's because Haiti brought more wealth to the old world than the other American colonies. Haiti was the reason Napolean sold Lousiana for that disastrous price- so he could finance his war against the rebelling slaves. He sacrificed Lousiana & lost Haiti because there was no way the self-freed slaves were going to toil that mercilessly again.

Haiti is why Lousiana has the Creole flavor it does. After the revolution in 1804, many of the rich plantation masters fled Haiti and settled in Louisiana which was their French sister city.

Red beans & rice? Jambalaya? Boudin? All of that is from derived from Haitian food (with its own twist after the years). The pretty Creole women with that lazy accent? Haitian plantation blood. The voodoo? Etc, etc...

The city of Chicago was founded by a Haitian too.

Thanks for this thread...!


Thought you'd be interested in this too:

From 1996:

U.N. COMMISSION POINTS FINGER AT CIA

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb. 18 - Breaking from United Nations bodies'
usual deference to the U.S., albeit a bit late, this week a U.N.
Human Rights Commission report openly accused and harshly
criticized the actions of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) in Haiti in a report submitted in Geneva, Agence France
Presse reported yesterday.

"In addition to the efforts made by the international community to
reestablish democracy in Haiti, we are stupefied to learn today
that there is another anti-democratic effort which was directed by
the CIA, to discredit President Aristide and prevent his return to
Haiti," the report said.

The report, drawn up following a delegation visit this fall,
called on the U.S. to bring to light the "troubling role" the CIA
played during the military regime and noted "according to
different sources, the CIA appears to have played a double-game
vis vis the international community and even the American
administration while the military junta was in power... It had
numerous contacts with the Haitian army and the head of FRAPH death squad Front pour l'Avancement et le Progres Haitien],
Emmanuel Constant."

The Commission also demanded that the U.S. return the 150,000
pages of documents seized by U.S. soldiers from FRAPH and Haitian
army headquarters so that the truth of "where the responsibility
lies in each case" and the role of the CIA can be brought to
light.

<snip>

http://www.tulane.edu/~libweb/RESTRICTED/HAITINFO/1996_0210.txt

[Aidoneus]

19. very interesting posts here, Tinoire & Bandit

thanks.. :toast:

[Tinoire]

20. I am going to go home and get drunk. Totally drunk tonight

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=388947

In order to not get too depressed, I will keep repeating the new meme that "The National Endowment for Democracy is a good thing". "School of the Americas is a good thing". "Water Privatization is a good thing". "NAFTA is a good thing".

Anytime Aidoneus. It's always my pleasure for the people who care.

Peace

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. Not even when that sovereign nation begs us?

This is not Iraq. Aristide is the democratically elected president of Haiti and he has asked numerous times for the US to come in and help.

If you do believe that we should still just leave the Haitians to their own devices, then we need to end the embargo and get the CIA types to stop helping the rebels.

[PVnRT]

25. Exactly, this is MUCH different than Iraq

When someone is begging for help, I think it's OK to go ahead and head on in.

[WLKjr]

9. We wont aid Hati, but we will aid Mexico

Why do you think that Bush is always meeting with Vicente Fox. He kisses his ass, but wont help those fleeing a war or attempt to protect them. Oh wait, I forgot, not only are they black, but they have no oil either. maybe drugs, but mexico has more cocain im sure ;)

[Bandit]

11. kick

:kick:

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tinoire]

17. He is huh? Aristide is beloved by over 85% of the Haitian Population

the poor 85% just like in Venezuela.

Now back to the Mulattoes, of which I am one, the problem is that the mulattoes are the children of the old plantation owners and with their inherited wealth, closed classist castes, classical educations, have never worked a hard day in their lives. True there are some wealthy very dark-skinned Haitians but they are for the most part, not all, supporters of the US-financed, armed & supported Duvalier regime that sought to keep the Mulattoes and Blacks in line (in the US, one drop and you're all in the same boat anyway). Generations have passed since Duvalier took power and that Black class is as educated & as powerful as the Mulatto class but there is still a power struggle & still a sense of "you're not descended from quite the right family". A shaky marriage but it survives because both are ok with exploiting the poor who are the majority of the Blacks in Haiti. You've got about 3% Mulatto a few of whom are poor in a genteel Southern Blanche Dubois sort of way. 3% rich Blacks and 94% abject poverty Blacks.

So yes the country is a basket case and as a Haitian, let me say thank you to the US for having made it one. Thank you for years of gun-boat diplomacy. Thank you for the 1915-1934 occupation. Thank you for the new slave plantations you call factories where hungry 10 year old children sew your baseballs for cheering US fans. Thank you for enabling the Domican Republic's kidnapping of Haitian children to toil in the fields of sugar cane wielding machetes that are so heavy for their small bodies that they inadvertently hack off other children's limbs.

Yes. Thank you for NAFTA. THANK YOU FOR THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS! THANK YOU FOR THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY!! THANK YOU FOR WATER PRIVATIZATION!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR BENEVOLENCE TOWARDS DARKIES WHO ARE SIMPLY INCAPABLE OF GOVERNING OURSELVES AND WOULD BE BETTER OFF BEING A WARD OF IMPERIALISTIC FRANCE AFTER HAVING BEEN SO BRUTALLY RAPED BY BOTH THE US & FRANCE.

IT'S A LITTLE LATE TO STAY OUT NOW DON'T YOU THINK?

THE US HAS BEEN BURNING THE PLACE DOWN FOR 200 YEARS AND NOW YOU WANT TO "just stay out"?

ON SECOND HAND, I WISH THE US WOULD STAY OUT AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WOULD HAVE STAYED OUT. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO FREE LABOR, the US just can't resist & it doesn't matter which party is in power.

The only people who revile Aristide are those who don't want to share!!

You know what sealed Aristide's doom before the CIA and the elite sent that butcher Cedras in? He asked the wealthy to pay taxes.

Imagine that. He asked the wealthy to pay taxes so he could give the poor a few benefits. A few lousy pennies was all he asked for.

[PVnRT]

26. 50% in this country revile Bush

I guess it's time for armed revolt! Huzzah!

[Suspicious]

18. Contact Information:

I posted this last week, at one point. I have others - I just need to find them....

http://www.haitiaction.net/

[Tinoire]

21. I've had 2 drinks. Kick!

:kick:

[WarNoMore]

22. I think I'll have one of what

you're having. Great post.

[Dirk39]

23. Illusions about Clinton?

"In 1991, Aristide was overthrown by the brutal paramilitary, led by former CIA employees Emmanuel Constant and Raoul Cedras. The massive influx of refugees fleeing Haiti from the brutal FRAPH paramilitary regime, in addition to a groundswell of domestic support for Haiti, forced Clinton to “restore democracy” to Haiti in 1994. Aristide, having his way cleared by US troops, returned to Haiti recognized internationally as its legitimate leader.

Aristide’s return was only made possible when he “embraced the Haitian bourgeoisie and accepted a U.S. occupation and Washington’s neoliberal agenda.” As Noam Chomsky has detailed, “The Aristide government to keep to a standard "structural adjustment" package, with foreign funds devoted primarily to debt repayment and the needs of the business sectors, and with an "open foreign investment policy." <8>

By then, the neoliberal agenda has become entrenched as part of the New World Order, which was designed to respond to “the South’s plea for justice, equity, and democracy in the global society.” This agenda has led others such as Susan George to sum it up as such:

“Neo-liberalism has become the major world religion with its dogmatic doctrine, its priesthood, its law-giving institutions and perhaps most important of all, its hell for heathen and sinners who dare to contest the revealed truth.” <9>

The World Bank predicted in 1996 that up to 70 per cent of Haitians would be unlikely to survive bank-advocated free market measures in Haiti. According to a 2002 Guardian article, by the end of the 1990’s “Haiti’s rice production had halved and subsidized imports from the U.S. accounted for over half of local rice sales.” <10> As Haiti became the “star pupil” of IMF and World Bank, such policies “devastated” local farmers.

Structural Adjustment Programmes , which have been forced upon Haiti, have in traditional style promoted the privatisation of state industries. According to Aristide in his 2000 book “Eyes of the Heart”, privatisation will “further concentrate wealth” where 1 per cent of the population already controls 45 per cent of the overall wealth. As for why Haiti would agree to World Bank and IMF measures, Aristide provides context along a “dead if we do, dead if we don’t” line: “Either we enter a global economic system, in which we know we cannot survive, or, we refuse, and face death by slow starvation.” <11>

While keeping in mind that the US effectively controls the World Bank and IMF <12>, we should consider Susan George and the Transnational Institutes findings based on extensive research of these institutions: “The economic policies imposed on debtors…caused untold human suffering and widespread environmental suffering while simultaneously emptying debtor countries of their resources.” <13>

George notes how the consequences of this “debt boomerang” which sees rich nations actually profiting from the enormous debt service rendered on the poor, as affecting all of us. While the people in the South “are far more grievously affected by debt than those in the North, in both cases, a tiny minority benefits while the overwhelming majority pays.” <14>

The US administration, the World Bank-IMF couplet, and Haitian elites who stand to benefit from a neoliberal agenda, are all aware that Aristide favours genuine democracy over neoliberal reform. Aristide still stands behind the beliefs that swept him to power as the first democratically elected Haitian leader in 1991. As Kevin Pina told me yesterday, the popular masses who revered Aristide in 1991 “are still willing to fight for him. They are willing to die if it means Aristide can complete his term.”"
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/FEN402A.html



These are quotes from Eyes of the Heart by Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Common Courage Press, 2000:

p35
In nations around the world, even those experiencing rapid economic growth, there are millions of children living on the streets, refugees of a system that puts the market before the person. If we listen closely, these children have a message for the new century. Thirteen years ago we opened a center for street children in Port-au-Prince. In 1996, we opened a radio station with our 400 kids. Radyo Timoun (Little People's Radio) broadcasts their music, their news, and their commentaries 14 hours a day. In a world in which a child under the age of 5 dies every 3 seconds, children must speak. In a commentary on democracy prepared by three eleven-year-old girls, democracy was defined as food, school, and health care for everyone. Simplistic or visionary? For them democracy in Haiti doesn't mean a thing unless the people can eat.
Democracy asks us to put the needs and rights of people at the center of our endeavors. This means investing in people. Investing in people means first of all food, clean water, education and healthcare. These are basic human rights. It is the challenge of (any real democracy to guarantee them.
Ironically, in many countries of the South the transition to democracy comes at a time when states are being forced to rapidly divest of resources, saddled with debt, abandoning the economic field to market forces, and playing a smaller and smaller role in the provision of basic human services. They have neither the money nor the will to invest in their people. Today democracy risks being rapidly outpaced by the galloping global economy. If democracy in rich countries and poor ones alike is to be more than a facade, nice in theory, but irrelevant in the face of global economic relationships, our concept and practice of democracy must make a giant leap forward. We must democratize democracy.
Do not confuse democracy with the holding of elections every four or five years. Elections are the exam, testing the health of our system. Voter participation is the grade. But school is in session every day. Only the day-to-day participation of the people at all levels of governance can breathe life into democracy and create the possibility for people to play a significant role in shaping the state and the society that they want.
I recently heard a beautiful story about holding representatives accountable in democracy. In Columbia a member of an indigenous community was elected to parliament to represent his people. On one particularly important vote, the community elders had decided how they wished their representative to vote. The parliamentarian, now far away from his community in the halls of power in the capital, voted differently. Again the elders met and agreed that for defying the wishes of the community he was elected to represent, the parliamentarian should walk many miles through the mountains and then bathe in the freezing water of a sacred mountain lake in order to purge himself. This he did, and balance within the community was restored. Perhaps this technique would not be appropriate elsewhere, but the point is that it is up to each country and indeed each community to search for ways to both keep the peace and protect against the potential betrayal of elected leaders.
p43
In a country where only 20% of the population have access to clean drinking water, swimming pools are exclusively for the rich. There is not a single public swimming pool in Haiti. The pool itself is a symbol of the elite.
p49
The neo-liberal strategy is to weaken the state in order to have the private sector replace the state.


Just heard that defenders of Aristide did retake one larg city, I just pray that this is true!

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[MrPrax]

24. If Aristide used Tabs...

then more people would have supported him...

But alas he spent more time being idealistic and reading the Bible and less time playing chess and being a Statesman...

I pity the fool...he should have called Fidel for advice

[Tinoire]

27. Aristide is very close to Castro & Chavez

You can connect the dots from there. Chavez is sending troops to help him out but I haven't found a printed source for that yet. I have found this one about financial aid so far.

Venezuela donates 1 million US dollars to Haiti

www.chinaview.cn 2004-02-24 09:55:33
CARACAS, Feb. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The Venezuelan government would donate 1 million US dollars to Haiti to help the Haitian people who are suffering from political chaos, Foreign Minister Jesus Perez said in a statement Monday.

Perez said fuel, food and medicine would also be sent to Haiti once all the procedures have started.

The minister said Venezuela shares the position of the Organization of American States (OAS) in insisting on the constitutional steps to find a "peaceful and democratic" way to defuse the political crisis in Haiti.

He voiced his concern over a possible escalation of the violence in Haiti, noting that dialogues should be held to resolvethe crisis.

The three-week-long insurgency in Haiti intensified on Monday as the opposition rejected a plan of the international community to negotiate a solution under which President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would share power with his opponents.

<snip>

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-02/24/content_1328524.htm

[MrPrax]

29. Well too little, too late...

It seems that events have overtaken even this thread overnight...total anarchy...

He looks finished and let's hope not too many people are killed

[Stephanie]

28. Thanks

I appreciate the capsule history.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

30. Thank you. I saw Tom Harkin speaking on C-span yesterday

about this and he said it is going to end up with thousands of people being killed if no action is taken!

[Judi Lynn]

31. Thanks for taking the time to make this thread available

Thanks to the small number of DU'ers who actually contributed helpful information. It's a gift to us DU'ers who really care about this, who are coming from behind to educate ourselves on US/Haiti relations.

Tinoire, I hope and pray we will all have something to feel better about in the next few days concerning Haiti's situation.

From your "UN COMMISSION POINTS FINGER AT CIA" article (and HOW could this remain so unnoticed, anyway?):

(snip) Pages, Constant Still in U.S. Hands

In the meantime, some of the 150,000 pages were reportedly
delivered to the U.S. embassy several weeks ago, but the Haitian
government said it will not accept them piecemeal, only as an
ensemble. Press reports say that, in addition to papers, there are
videos, cassettes and "trophy photos."

The "terms" of the return are still not clear. The U.S. announced
that the names of all U.S. citizens and residents will be blocked
out, and tried to get the Haitian government to sign an eight-
point "memorandum of understanding" where it would promise that
"information in the documents... will not be made public or
otherwise disseminated in such as way as to risk unlawful
repercussions or abuses," that access to them is restricted, and
that "records will be maintained of the individuals who have
access." So far, it appears the government has refused to sign.

In the meantime, Constant is still in the U.S., having apparently
decided to appeal his deportation. According to a Dec. 11 memo
obtained by The Nation, if he ever is sent back, it will be in "a
U.S. plane complete with 'V.I.P.' security and 'no advance notice'
for the Haitian government." He will then benefit from "'crowd
control' and a 'public affairs strategy' designed to urge Haitians
'to remain calm despite the intensity of anti-FRAPH and anti-
Constant sentiment,'" wrote Allan Nairn in an article dated Feb.
26.

Nairn also wrote that the CIA is still active in Haiti, having
"placed agents inside the rebuilt Haitian National Police,"
reporting that Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, transition chief of
President-elect Rene Preval, told him that in an interview.
Although Jean-Baptiste later told Agence Haitienne de Presse that
he had not said anything so "formal," Nairn wrote that the
"statement has been confirmed by U.S. officials... who say that
much of the CIA recruitment took place during... police training"
in the U.S.
(snip/)

Did you read the article in one of the threads last week about the CIA actually operating at cross-purposes with Bill Clinton? It said, essentially, that Bill Clinton withdrew a large amount of financing which had been earmarked to go to some opposition group in Haiti, and that the CIA actually moved ahead and restored that very same amount of money and sent it ahead to that opposition group. Contradicted their own President. Really makes you wonder what the hey has been going on, doesn't it?

[Tinoire]

33. Thanks JudiLyn...

This is hurting like a M-F. Enough to make me waver on ABB. You're a real sweetheart. Thanks a million for what you've done to bring this to more people's consciousness.

[Dirk39]

32. Aristide and the Left in Haiti

HAITI
Opposition led by Haiti's wealthy and supported by Washington
Can Aristide survive?

February 6, 2004 | Page 8

HELEN SCOTT explains what’s behind the ongoing confrontations in Haiti.

(...)
As usual, the U.S. government blames Aristide and his government for the crisis, while presenting the opposition as a legitimate and democratic mass movement. At a summit in Mexico last week, George Bush and Colin Powell demanded that Aristide negotiate with his opponents, and State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher claims that the country’s police and "government-sponsored gangs" are responsible for vandalism, harassment and violent rampages.

These charges are at best incomplete--and at worst, total distortions of the actual situation. In reality, the "opposition" to Aristide is guilty of beating government supporters to death, trashing the marketplace stalls of petty traders and burning the homes of members of Lavalas Family, the political party that Aristide leads. Figures from the party face the threat of assassination if Aristide does not meet opposition demands for his resignation.

The education system has been shut down because of a coordinated plan by Aristide opponents of attacking schools and colleges--by arson and stoning. Journalists from both state and independent radio stations and newspapers have been attacked and threatened, and the state-run Haitian National Television came under assault by gunfire, rocks and bottles.
Aristide has moved far from the radical he was when he was elected president of Haiti in 1990. To be restored to power by U.S. troops after being toppled in a coup, he had to agree to a series of concessions. In recent years, his popularity has declined--even among the poor, his main base of support--as corruption in Lavalas Family was revealed, and conditions for the majority of people have grown worse.

But the opposition to Aristide is led by Haiti’s rich--and propped up by the U.S. One of the major figures is André Apaid Jr., a sweatshop owner and one of the richest people in Haiti. He leads the Group of 184, which is made up of the same Haitian elite that ruled the country under the Duvalier dictatorship.

The opposition is also heavily supported by the U.S. government--through such infamous Cold War organizations as the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Republican Institute (IRI) and right-wing politicians such as former Sen. Jesse Helms. According to the Associated Press, the IRI is giving money to Apaid and other Aristide opponents.

The European Union, especially Haiti’s former colonizer, France, is also funding the opposition. Both the U.S. and French governments have endorsed a proposal from the Haitian Conference of Bishops to replace the country’s parliament with a small, appointed body. So much for democracy!

It is true that Aristide has been ruling by decree since the terms of members of parliament expired on January 13. But the reason that the parliament is shut down is that the opposition refused to participate in elections.
(...)
Ben Dupuy of the left-wing National Popular Party (PPN) described the closures as top-down and orchestrated by owners, not workers. "It’s not really a strike," Dupuy said. "It’s more like a lockout." The fact that foreign journalists routinely rely on Radio Métropole--the voice of Haitian business, which broadcasts in French (although the vast majority of the population speak Haitian Creole)--helps to explain the media distortions.

Washington’s hatred of Aristide is longstanding. The U.S. backed his opponent in the 1990 election for Haiti’s presidency, and the CIA provided assistance to the coup-makers who toppled him.

Though Clinton sent troops to restore him to power, Aristide has since become a target of abuse--mainly because of his support among Haiti’s poor masses and his reputation for challenging Washington’s meddling and its "neoliberal" agenda of free-market "reforms." So it’s understandable that many Haitians now defend Aristide.

On January 21, masses of people--estimates ranged from 20,000 to more than 100,000--gathered in the capital of Port-au-Prince to march in support of Aristide’s government and to call for "peace and reconciliation." The next day, several thousand students called for reopening the schools and colleges.

Even the left-wing PPN has shifted away from criticizing Aristide to defending him against "the macouto-bourgeois coalition" and U.S. efforts at destabilization. But Aristide doesn’t deserve to be seen as a radical.

Ever since he signed on to U.S. conditions for his return to power in 1994, Aristide has been managing the system, not fighting it. He endorsed the creation of a massive free trade zone in Ouanaminth, Haiti, on the border with the Dominican Republic.

(...)
A broad range of accounts confirm that Aristide’s popularity is declining as his promised reforms have failed to materialize, conditions for the majority of people grow worse and the record of corruption and repression in his government gets longer. At the same time, supporting the right-wing opposition--as some of Aristide’s critics from the left have done--is disastrous.

This "macouto-bourgeois alliance" will only deliver a dictatorship akin to the Duvalier regimes. The main policy goals of the opposition after getting rid of Aristide are to reinstate the army and push through a brutal structural adjustment programs that will only plunge the country deeper into poverty.

Only an independent opposition against both the bourgeois elite and Aristide’s government--along with the U.S.-backed neoliberal agenda that both sides ultimately support--can hope to defend the rights and improve the lives of Haiti’s masses. The U.S. government has long been the major obstacle to these goals. We can show our solidarity with Haiti’s poor and working class by building opposition to U.S. imperialism.
(...)"
http://socialistworker.org/2004-1/485/485_08_Aristide.shtml


Found this article interesting in giving some informations about the reasons, the Left in Haiti did or does oppose Aristide.

Just one thing seems to be sure for me: if those "rebels" win, the situation for the majority of the people will get worse, much worse.

I hope so much that the people are rational enough to defend Aristide now!
Dirk